Beyond Time
by Jade-the-X9ian
Summary: An Alternative World. When an unknown power starts to mess not only with Time itself, but even Alternative Worlds, it's up to four heroes to unite to stop it, along with their friends, and in a very ulikely way...
1. History

A/N: Hmm… hello… I came up with this new story because my friends told me to stop being a copycat and actually make up some ideas of my own for once, and so, I did. This is actually an improved version on 'Epic Child's Play'. Most of the Character's names are thought up randomly and some of them only appear once or twice in the whole fiction. The plot should be original enough. However, there were just way too many characters and I had to name some of the characters after my idols, or someone I know, or from everything and anything, sorry about that, if I'm using your name. Concepts were formed and scraped during the process of writing this story. Sorry for grammar mistakes and spelling. I hope you enjoy it. The plot will be a bit confusing at first but it'll be clearer later.

Also, I'll try to keep the length of each chapter equal, around three thousand to four thousand words, I think.

Chapter 1: History

Cove Cave Woods, 12th May, 198X

An evergreen forest, spread widely across the landscape, as if a green paradise, a peaceful world, a safe home. It was mid noon, and the sun hung highly above the tall, canopy trees. No one can deny that this forest was a natural beauty; with a peaceful green appearance and a place where all were free to roam.

And everything was free to roam the dark shades, where the canopy trees had blocked out all sunlight, indeed. A scream was more than enough to prove it.

"Jena!" A voice of a voice female called out. The young female was in her mid-twenties, with long, blond hair, and a gold and black harpoon strapped onto her back. She wore a long, black robe with red lines that ran down the robe, and were seemingly forming a symbol of some sort. She also wore a black hoodie that made her look like a lone wanderer. The young female darted towards the scream, in search of the source of it, which, apparently, came from a girl named Jena.

Jena is a girl who was currently in her early-twenties. She had emerald green eyes and her hair was coal black. When her friend found her, parts of Jena's clothing's were torn- a sign of struggling- and that she had her gold and silver bow and arrows ready at her hands. Jena was also breathing heavily, and she seemed confused, lost, even, as her eyes were wide and filled with shock and disbelieve.

"Jena?" The other female said cautiously as she neared her friend. She could tell that Jena was horribly confused, and scared at the moment. Any sudden movement would only frighten her further, "Jena, I heard screaming… are you okay?"

As the troubled female slowly turned her head towards her companion, the other was truly horrified to see the look on Jena's face. The two had been friends since young children; they were almost like sisters, and therefore, they knew almost everything about the other, and right now, the older one of the two can see just how messed up Jena was, for she had never seen the other so broken before.

"Genesis!" Jena screamed as she literally threw herself into Genesis's arms. The older of the two was shocked by Jena's reaction at first, but then pushed her shock aside when she felt the broken female in her arms began to cry. She patted Jena's back softly, in an attempt to comfort the younger female.

"Jena…" Genesis said softly as she felt the other start to still and calm down, "What happened?"

"T-they… took him!" Jena, with her head still buried into the old female's arm said, her voice broken.

"Him?" Genesis questioned, concern filling her voice, "Who's him?"

Jena managed to choke out, "H-him! M-my…!" before she broke down crying again. But it was enough for Genesis to know who Jena was talking about.

Jena had a younger brother that was turning twelve this year, and if there was something Jena cared more about that her own life, it was her brother.

"Alright, alright, hush, it's okay, alright?" Genesis said as she held Jena, "We'll tell the searchers, okay? They'll be able to find him, everything will be okay…"

Jena continued to cry into the older female, but she managed to give a small nod as a reply. It was all that she could do.

- Nine Months Later

"Jena, I'm glad that you could make it,"

"Nethar, not to be rude or anything, but it would be greatly appreciated if you would be so nice to get straight into the reason of why you brought us here," Genesis replied calmly. After nine months of nothing, Jena had received a letter, informing her to meet Nethar , which was one of the leader of the searchers, in the great lobby. Genesis, after getting wind of the meeting, decided to accompany Jena to this meeting. The older female had a feeling that she was needed if things were no to go as they had expected.

"Of course," Nethar said. He was a tall man in his mid-thirties, his eyes where snow white and his long hair was ocean blue. As he walked down the hallway alongside the two females, his leather cape flowed gracefully behind him, and, at the same time, revealing the ruby red sword that was strapped onto his back, giving him an aura of both grace, and power, "right this way," he said as he led the other two into his private quarters, where they can speak freely, without anyone overhearing.

The room itself screamed of medieval decorations. Nethar liked it that way, it was something he liked and admired.

"I understand your worry for your brother, Jena", Nethar said and he took out some archives from an old, dusty shelf, "but you see, it has been nine long months since the search for your lost brother started, and after so long, we still have not find any signs of your brother… nor have we found any suspects that were involved in the kidnap of your brother. We did find two people that matched your description of the kidnappers, but unfortunately, they have been dead for over eighty years, at least, and therefore, could not possibly be the kidnappers."

"Nethar, then is there anything you have found that could prove that my brother was still alive, somehow?" Jena asked, her voice shaking. Nine long months were obviously not enough for her to get over the loss of her brother, as she was doing all she can to hold onto her sanity, and at the same time, not trying to lose hope.

Nethar let out a long sigh before saying, "You see… some of our searchers are starting to get impatient… I hope you understand, but we have been looking for your brother for nine long months now, and without proof that he's still alive… the majority of the searchers have decided that the search had to be canceled… I'm sorry."

There was only so much Jena could take. She cried, unable to hold in her tears anymore, while her friend did her best to comfort her, but there was nothing they could do now, not after nine long months. All they could do now was to accept that Jena's brother was now dead.

?, 12th May, 198X

"So, do you think it was right of us to have taken a child from his family?" A voice asked, it belonged to an orange-brown haired male in his mid-teens. Beside him, is another taller, older male, in his hands, an unconscious brown haired child in his arms.

"Stop asking questions like that," The elder male snapped, "Especially to Father, he wouldn't approve of it, all we should do is to follow his orders, "

But there was doubt in his voice, and it did not go unnoticed by his companion…

Green Wood Orphanage, 24th December, 199X

A soft glowing light emitted from the dimly glowing moon that hung high in the dark sky. The soft light shun down onto the small village below. On the outskirts of the village is a wooden house. The house was actually an orphanage- It was built in those times when the kingdom was at war, but after fifty years of recovering, there was no need for anyone to visit this orphanage, as there was almost no one in that wooden house.

Almost.

Moving swiftly through the woods, a figure slowed down to a jog as it neared the wooden house, and stopped completely as the orphanage was in full view. The black shadow's blood red eyes observed the wooden house for a while, before it neared it, its movement quick, yet calculating at the same time, and, as if it was a well-rehearsed drama, it slid a thin blade into the small opening of a closed window, and, carefully, forced the locked window open with a small click.

The figure then opened the window, and, with great skill, threw itself onto the inside of the wooden house, a soft thud emitting as it landed on the wooden flooring.

The shadow straightened itself from its landing position, its glowing red eyes scanning across the room. The room was quite dark, but the light from the moon was enough to let it see the two beds that were parallel to the window it just came in from.

As the figure cautiously neared the bunker beds, it could see the very thing that he had come for. A green haired girl, barely five, was sleeping peacefully, without a care in the world, unaware of the figure with the glowing red eyes, and totally vulnerable.

Yet, fortunately enough, the figure's goal was not to murder the young child, as it lowered its blade slowly.

During the young child's slumber, it was obvious that the child had kicked the sheets off, as they were on the ground right now. The green haired girl was sleeping on her side. And on closer inspection, the black figure can see that the girl was sleeping with a wooden doll hugged close to her.

The doll itself was interesting enough. At first glance, the shadow can see that the doll was carved out of a chunk of wood. But, on closer inspection, the wooden doll made itself clear that it was craved into a human like figure, and an emerald green leave attached onto the head of the human like doll. A smile was also carved onto the face of the wooden doll.

The black figure reached its hand out, yet it hesitated, hands stopping in mid-air, still and motionless, as if unsure of what to do. As the figure looked down onto the green haired child, he noticed a white envelope sticking out of the child's pillow. Curious, the black figure carefully slipped a hand under the child's head and pulled out the envelope. The shadowed figure then opened up the envelope, and took out the piece of paper to read what the paper said.

However, as the door suddenly slammed open, a young female around her late thirties standing in the doorway, the figure looked up sharply, quickly inspecting the other occupation in the room, and, quickly came to a conclusion that this female had come to check up on the children, and was unfortunate enough to have come face to face with the shadowed figure.

Quick reflexes took over, and, just as the other opened her mouth to scream, the shadow had already took out its gun, and shot her twice, once in her chest, and once in her abdomen.

The two loud bangs of the gun was enough to wake up every occupation of the once quite wooden house, and, without another thought, the figure took the child's letter, and her wooden door, and quickly fled through the window, just as the small child realized what had been taken from her.

Soon, people arrived, but none of them saw the black figure leap out of the window; none of them saw the shadow that quickly fled into the forest; only the young child, crying her eyes out, did.

-Sun Set Village, 27th February, 200X

The blond haired child was extremely confused. One moment, he was out in the fields of the village, hunting for slimes, and the next thing he knew, there were fires caused by loud explosions, and, suddenly, he had been running for his life in a cloud of fear and confusion, and just now, he realized that he was being held by an unknown force that was taking him to who-knows-where.

That was the most terrifying two minutes of his life, and it wasn't any better now, this ride was all but pleasant to the young child.

It was dark, and all he could hear was the occasional flap of a pair of wings, and the snap of branches here and there. He reached up to grab at the force that was currently holding him up, in fear of it letting go, and result in him falling to his death, only to realize that the 'force' that held him up was rough and scaly. He looked up, but only managing to make out a pair of dark shaded wings that were beating with an aura of grace and power, which, both amazed and frightened him.

The wind continued to blow into his face, and he soon noticed that the air around him had suddenly become colder, the chilly winds, along with a few drops of liquid, which, he assumed was water, pierced his skin.

He felt himself continued to be lifted above the ground for another long while, hearing the sounds of water, the sounds of waves, forming and disappearing just as quickly it had appeared. Was he above an ocean? The child started to panic and tried to kick himself free from his captor, but his efforts were useless, as his captor showed no signs of freeing him anytime soon.

_Flap, flap._

The child stopped in his mid-struggle and blinked, concentrating hard. There were the sounds of the beatings wings again, but he was sure that there were two pairs of wings, both belong to something, and both were flying in the dark, cloudy sky. The child looked around, searching for the second pair of wings, but it was too dark for him to make out anything, and the clouds were too thick, they were blocking his view.

_Flap, flap, flap._

He blinked again. Once again, the sounds of the beating wings reached his ears, but how many pairs of wings were there? Three? Four? Maybe even more? But no matter how much he concentrated, trying to find what was making these flapping sounds, all he could see was nothing but darkness. His heart pounded, and he started breathing heavily, the fact that there were something around him, making these sounds, and that he couldn't see where they were, really frightened him. Were these beings invisible?

His question was answer as his captors flew into the beams of moonlight. Finally revealing what they truly were.

Large Dragons, at least fifteen of them, are all flying under the moon-lit sky. Their huge dark blue and purple feathered wings beating gracefully and all are flying in the exact same direction. Their large, red eyes all gazed forward, all looking towards the place that they are going to.

It took the child a long while to snap out of his mental shock, and, as he looked around, he noticed that they were indeed above an ocean, its waves crashing angrily against each other, but he could no longer hear them, as the sounds of the beating wings of his captors were all he could hear at the moment. It was then when he realized that he was far away from home, too far away- He'd never seen an ocean before, he had seen rivers, and on rare occasions, lakes, but never, had he ever saw an ocean. It was somehow satisfying to him that he could finally see what the ocean was like, but that only reminded him how far away from his home he really was.

The child diverted his gaze from the ocean, and set his eyes on the nearest dragon, besides the one that was currently carrying him, that was a good distance away from him, and noticed that these dragons only have two legs, their front legs, and a really long tail. As his captor passed by another few dragons, he could also see that these other dragons all have a child in their clawed hands as well. Where are they taking them to?

He turned his head when he heard a loud flap to his right. It was another one of these giant beings. In his hands, a human child- maybe six, maybe seven- with long, dark-red hair that flowed with the wind. He assumed that this other child was a girl from that, and she wasn't having a better time than he was right now. She was shaking, and her eyes were shut tight.

The blond child was more confused than scared at the moment; maybe this girl knows where these dragons are taking them to?

"Hey," he finally called out to the girl, his voice was weak and shaking, but it did not go unheard by the other child, as she lifted her head, ever so slightly, and her eyes peeked open, revealing the two coal black orbs hidden behind her eye lids as she looked towards the blond.

"I'm Matt," the blond haired child said when he was sure that he had gotten the dark haired girl's attention.

The other child took several deep breathes before weakly replying, "I'm Cat,"

The two children were silent for another while, as their captors continued to fly towards their destination. Even though Matt had never been so frightened in his whole life, he could tell that the girl beside him was more terrified than he is.

"Do you know where they are taking us?" He said after a long, uncomfortable silence.

The dark haired girl looked around for a while, making sure that none of the dragons were paying any attention to them, before turning back to the blond, and said, "I t-think they are taking us to their nest,"

"Nest?" Matt asked, temporary forgetting his current situation, "What nest?"

Cat took another deep breath before continuing, "My father told me about dragons. Dragons with only two legs. He said they were b-bad dragons, and he told me to run if I see one," she paused in her mid-sentence, looking around to make sure that no attention was brought to them, "I tried to run, but now they are t-taking us to their nest, my father told me that's where they live,"

So 'The Nest' is where all these dragons lived? "Why are they taking us there?"

"I don't know. My father doesn't know. N-no one knows," Cat said, she was beginning to panic. Matt didn't blame her, he was scared for life right now, and what would these dragons do to them when they have reached their home? Maybe they'll be dropped off a cliff, or eaten, or thrown in lava. He tried not to think about it, but it felt impossible for him to stay calm. Who could, anyways? Being carried off by a large dragon and not knowing what it'll do to you… It was too much for a mere seven-year-old to handle.

Suddenly, he felt himself being jerked upwards; the angry screech of the dragons can be heard, along with the sounds of cross bows being fired. Unknowingly, they have already been brought to land, and, as the enraged dragons started breathing fire towards the dark woods below, the night sky lit up with a red and white light. The child closed his eyes in order not to be blinded by the sudden brightness brought by the flames, so he was unaware of what had happened, all he knew was him being dropped, him screaming, and being caught by something.

"Don't worry, you're safe now," was what he heard when he finally did opened his eyes, realized that what caught him was a person in some silver armor. And, with that, the child's mind could take no more of the current events, as he slipped away into darkness.

-Red Ore Kingdom 27th February, 200X

A pair of round, sapphire blue eyes was staring out of a large window, observing the bright red lights that lit up the sky. Blinking, the blue-eyed child called for her Father, "Daddy?"

"What is it, dear?" said child's father replied, standing over his daughter. He was an old man, with streaks of white hair running down his black hair, as if creating a contrast.

"What's that?" the child said, pointing towards the flashing lights in the distance.

As her Father looked away from her large eyes, and towards the red lights that are starting to glow dimmer, he let out a long, sad sigh. Of course he knew what those lights on the opposite shore of the ocean meant. Those fires were caused by Youth Stealers- a new race of dragons that recently appeared, they never showed themselves, but that didn't stop them from kidnaping young children between ages of five to ten, and, most of all, no one knows where these furious beings took their children, all they knew was that their children, if taken by these beings, never returned. These Youth Stealers were the reason why he was always worried, and why he wouldn't let his daughter leave the mansion, no matter how much she pleaded. But of course, he wouldn't tell the truth to his daughter.

"Daddy?" the child asked once again, looking up at her Father, her eyes pure and filled with innocence.

Her Father just smiled, before saying, "It's… nothing… Just go to bed, it's already past your bed time,"


	2. Realizations

A/N: Hopefully, I don't get writer's block after this. Changed names of people, too, because everyone was figuring out who was who. As usual, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 2: Realizations

?, 25th December, 199X

He clutched his throat and gasped. One moment, he had been standing in front of a pair of blood red eyes, and the next moment, he was one the ground gasping for air. Not to mention, he also had a searing headache.

Yet, the person that was causing him such pain was, in fact, his Father.

"How disappointing," he heard his Father said. He couldn't reply, he felt like he was drowning, or someone was squeezing his neck so tight that he couldn't breathe, yet, the closest persons standing to him, his two brothers, were at least ten feet away, and the two of them just stood and watched, as he continued to struggle for air.

He didn't blame them for not helping, as the same fate would befall them as well, if they interfered.

"Just think about it, it was just a simple task," the voice of his Father rung out again, and, at the same time, he started to receive more pain from the headache he was experiencing. He wanted to scream so badly, but he kept his mouth shut, and his teeth clenched. It would do little to help him. If fact, the last time he screamed when he received this kind of torture, his Father had given him a broken rib, and the pain from the headache didn't recede for hours.

He was on the verge of crying. For another long while, he continued to lie on the cold floor, feeling that his head and lungs were about to explode, when, thankfully, his Father said, "But perhaps you haven't completely failed after all," the voice sounded thoughtful, and he started to feel his headache recede.

"At least we know who we have to worry about next," he heard his Father said, and, immediately, he found himself capable of breathing again. He coughed, and started pulling as much air into his lungs as he can, but he still heard his Father said, "But one more failure like this, and it won't just be your head or throat that hurts, you are dismissed," and he felt his Father lifted his gaze from him, and started walking away, into a mist of darkness, as his two brothers ran over to him and helped him to his feet.

"You ****ing idiot," he heard the eldest among the three of them say, yet, his voice was nowhere near harsh, or blaming. The tone made it seem like it was meant for a compliment, or an encouragement of some sort. So, he just smiled at his two brothers.

-Dawn Castle, 27th February, 20XX

'If this was a dream,' Matt thought, 'I hope I wake up soon,'

He did not like what he was seeing at the moment, and he knew for a fact that the girl beside him, Cat, didn't either. Her face showed a mixture between fear and disgust.

Eight years ago, Matt, and a bunch of children, had been taken from their homes by a kind of dragon, called 'Youth Stealers', at least, that was what they were told.

Shortly after being rescued by some of the knights of Dawn Castle , they were all told that the dragons that had took them away from their homes were called 'Youth Stealers', because they stole children, and that they were lucky to have been found, otherwise, they'd end up in some horrible, unspeakable situation, and, they were so confused at that time, they believed what those people had told them, and they were serving them, in a way, for the kindness that these knights had shown them.

Matt would've stilled believed that that was the truth, if Cat hadn't suddenly burst through the doorway, into his 'private quarters' one day, screaming, "It was a lie! Everything was a lie! Everything! They'd set us up!"

During the eight years they had spent together, Matt and Cat had actually become really close friends. They were never seen too far away from the other, they were always in a pair during training sections, and that they'd sometimes even sit on top of Dawn Castle, just looking at the sun setting at dusk.

Cat was a cheerful and outgoing girl, never once failing to make matt smile. And after years of training, she was found extremely skilled in stealth. No one denied that. Cat could hide for days and no one would be able to find her if she wanted to.

Matt, on the other hand, liked swords play, even if he wasn't as skilled as swordsmen who only used swords as a melee type weapon, he still held an advantage for his knowledge of sword-spells.

"Cat, what in the world-" he started, only to be cut off by the enraged female.

"They didn't rescue us from those Youth Stealers!" Cat screamed, but not quite loud enough for people in the corridors to hear.

"What do you mean they didn't?" Matt asked, "We all saw them ourselves- we were being taken to their nests, that's when they saved us,"

"That's because they didn't really saved us!" Cat almost yelled at him, "We were young at that time- we didn't know any better, and they'd tricked us! They'd set everything up, like a plan!"

"How'd you know?" Matt never doubted what Cat said, but this was just plain outrageous.

"Look, you know that every year or so, some new children are brought in, right?"

"Yes,"

"And they claimed that they were also recused from Youth Stealers, right?"

"Cat, I don't see where you're getting at,"

The black eyed girl just shook her head, then said, "The Youth Stealers didn't just 'suddenly appear', like they'd said, the Dragons were actually bred by themselves,"

"You can't just say that without any proof at all!"

"No, Matt! I have proof; I saw it with my own eyes!"

After that, the two were silent for a while; with Matt wondering where on earth Cat would have saw such things, and with Cat trying to find the right words to explain how she'd seen the truth.

Finally, Cat spoke, "I've been to the cellars-"

"The cellars?" It was Matt's turn to yell now, "You know that only the four Guardians are allowed to enter the cellars- you'll be executed if they'd seen you enter that place!"

The four Guardians are also known as the Four Generals of the Castle- they rule over everyone and made sure everything was in place. Some would even think that they were the law itself, if they weren't under the orders of the 'Ordeal'. The Four Generals goes by the names Benertore, FrostFire, Duality and Guarnte. They weren't the nicest of persons, and for most of the time, only gave orders around the castle. Nobody liked the Four Guardians (and Cat even called Benertore 'A Sick Pervert'), but they had to follow orders from them, anyways, as they all served under the 'Ordeal'. Everyone knew that the 'Ordeal' had the right to sentence anyone he pleased within these walls, and, therefore, no one dared disobey any orders given by the four generals.

And as for the cellars… it was strictly off-limit to anyone but the Four Guardians and the 'Ordeal' himself. And, no one would enter that place- even if they weren't forbidden to- anyways. It was dark, cold, and scary. There were even rumors about a ghost that cuts your fingers off if anyone were to enter. Some even say that that was what had happened to FrostFire, as he wears a large leather glove where his right hand used to be.

Matt would never have believed that Cat would go down there; it was just like playing with fire!

"That's because the Four Guardians and the 'Ordeal' are behind all this!" Cat said, "They didn't want anyone else knowing about it- that's why they didn't allowed anyone else in!"

Matt just shook his head. He knew that Cat never lied about something serious, but he found what Cat claimed to be the truth hard to believe. Cat seemed to get the hint, as she said, "Look, we'll go down to the now… That's where they're keeping the dragons,"

"Maybe those Youth Stealers are just prisoners of some sort?" Matt said, "Maybe they are keeping them as a live specimen or something…"

"Matt! You know that the rescuers never brought back any dragons!" Cat was starting to get annoyed at Matt trying to deny the truth, "Look, you can come with me and see for yourself, or don't, but either way, I'm leaving this place,"

"Leave? Where'd you go?"

"Anywhere… I can't stand staying here after what I saw," the black eyed girl sighed, "So? Are you coming? Or not?"

Matt thought for a while. He could go down to the cellars with Cat, but even if there were no knights guarding the doors and the gates that led towards the cellars, it was a risky action. The cellars were really dark, and it was built in a large, maze-like structure, from what he'd heard. They could easily get lost down there. And that there was the chance that they would run into one of the Four Generals, or even worse, the 'ordeal' himself- They would be in serious trouble if that happened. But if Cat has been down there, then Matt believed that she'd know where she was going, and what she was doing.

"Alright," Matt finally said, "Let's go,"

- Dawn Castle Cellars, 27th February, 20XX

Getting past the Doors and the Gates that led towards the Cellars was easy enough, as they expected, no one was guarding the doors and the gates. As the two headed deeper into the cellar itself, though, a sense of dread washed over the two. The cellar's dark aura was affecting them more than they realized.

The floors and the walls of the cellars were dripping wet. And it was dark, with only one candle to light the way. The two continued to inch forward, with Cat leading the way, after taking a few more turns, they'd reach their destination.

Cat was right; the place where the 'Ordeal' kept the dragons was a just like a huge kennel. Expect that these cages, which were built into the wall, held dragons instead of dogs or cats. Behind the large silver bars, Matt could make out one or two dragons, but he was sure there was a lot more than just that. There was probably more hiding in the darkness. He walked over to the cages to get a better look at the dragons.

As he neared the crimson reptiles, some of them lifted their heads to look at him, their blood red eyes staring into his, bringing back frightening memories that he thought he's forgotten long ago. Matt's gaze followed the dragon's neck, and down towards it's body. These dragons were quite healthy- there was no way that an imprisoned dragon would be so well-fed.

Matt didn't have much time to gather up his thoughts, though, as there was a sudden realization from the dragons. And, almost instantly, the dragons- all twenty of them- roared at once, their cries echoed in the cellars, which was bound to draw a lot of unwanted attention. Immediately, Matt grabbed Cat's hand and the two bolted down the cellars.

In their panicked state, however, both took no time in observing their surroundings, and they soon found themselves lost deep within the dark maze as they came towards a cross-road.

"Which way do we go?" Matt asked his companion. He'd never been here before, so he had absolutely no clue where they were, and that the fact that they were in such a hurry to get away, both had just bolted down every path they'd seen in their 'escape'.

"I have no idea!" Cat said, her voice trembling, "I've never seen this part of the cellars before!"

The two stood by each other and looked around for a while, still unsure of which path to take, when they heard the sound of footsteps. Cat turned to Matt, her eyes wide with fear, both knew that it didn't matter who that was- if they were seen, both will be in serious trouble.

Matt was about to open his mouth and suggest something, when a hand shot out from behind him and clamped itself over his mouth. He would have screamed out, if he could. The same thing happened to Cat as they found themselves being dragged into the tunnel to their left. Upon recovering from the frightful experience, Matt tried to pray the hand off him, but he stopped himself when he heard a voice said, "Shut up and keep still," It sounded like a demand, or even an order of some sort, so the two calmed themselves in order not to anger the owner of the voice. Or, at least, tried to, Cat was still shaking and her breathing came out in short gasps.

The footsteps were getting louder, and the blond could hear clearly that it was actually two sets of feet instead of one, and soon enough, they saw two figures, one of them holding a candle in its hand, pass by the tunnel they were in.

The first and larger figure appears to be FrostFire. He had one red eye and one blue eye. His hair was black and his chest-plate had a round orb craved onto it. It was flickering in between red and blue.

The second figure was Duality; he had shimmering white hair and two colored eye- one red, one black. His armor resembled that of the skeleton of a dragon.

Matt and Cat watched as the two Guardians neared. Yet, fortunately for them, the cellars were dark, and the Guardians did not notice them and continued to walk past the tunnel they were in. When they can hear the sounds of footsteps no more, the voice spoke again, "Now, I think you two have quite the explaining to do…"

As the two felt the hands being withdrew from them, they spun around immediately to face the owner of the voice. He was slightly older than Matt, and he had long blue hair that reached down to his waist. And he was just wearing basic leather armor. There was also a gold and silver sword strapped onto his back.

"You can start by telling me this; why are you down here, when you know that this place is strictly off limits?"

Matt glance towards Cat for a moment, deciding whether or not to tell the male the truth. But seeing as the other male was not much older than he is, he said, "Yeah, we could probably ask you the same thing,"

The blue haired teen laughed, before saying, "Alright, but we might want to get out of the cellars first-" he paused for a brief moment and fished out a candle, it was made out of red wax, "Trust me, if we stay here any longer, it's not just the Generals we'll have to deal with," he said as he lit the candle with a spark of fire from his fingertips. Matt assumed that the other probably knew basic spells from this.

"By the way," the other male said as he held out the burning candle, lighting up the dark walls of the cellars, "My name's Xenophon,"

Green Wood Village, 27th February, 20XX

She stood with a small wooden house facing her back. She was staring into the leaves of a tree, as if deep in thought, watching them wave as the wind blew. She can see someone. She can see him giving her a wooden doll. She remembered this day. It was the day she last saw her Father. And the wooden doll was the only thing that reminded her of him, but it was gone, taken by someone else. But why were the leaves showing her this?

She snapped out of her thoughts, though, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around slightly to face another female. The other was older than she is, but she had her same green hair and eyes, but only in a darker shade of green. She recognized the other as her elder sister, Alice.

"Anna, what are you looking at?" Her sister asked. Anna could feel that her sister was worried about her, but she didn't want to talk to her. If fact, she hadn't really talked to anyone in almost ten years, she only talked when it was necessary.

She sighed silently to herself. She remembered the murder of one of the workers at the orphanage she used to live in. Nobody else saw what happened; she was the only one who saw the murderer and she was asked about it. She told them she saw eyes. One black, one red, and that the red eye even glowed. But no one believed her, as they couldn't find anyone in the records with two different colored eyes, let alone a person with red eyes that glowed in the dark.

She was treated as a liar. But she wouldn't admit that she was lying, not when she wasn't even lying in the first place. She had tried to convince everyone that the murderer with the glowing red eye was real, and that it even took her wooden doll… the only thing that his Father had left for her, and she wanted it back, badly.

Later on, she was aware that she was being taken to doctors. Being only seven at that time, she didn't know the reason behind all these visits. Only when she turned nine did she realize that everyone thought she had mental issues. She couldn't walk around open areas of the village without people staring at her, saying things behind her back.

It had felt horrible, being treated as if she was mentally insane since she was seven.

When her ten-year older sister found a job as a shop assistant, though, she'd bought a small wooden house and had taken Anna with her. Since then, the two had been living here, with only each other as company.

Unlike the others, Anna's sister actually knew that Anna was aware of the fact that everyone thought she was mental. But even if there were times that she doubted Anna's sanity, she didn't want Anna to suffer any more psychological harm. Alice was probably the only one that cared about what Anna thought.

"Anna?" her sister said again, worried, "Are you okay?"

When Anna nodded silently, Alice sighed in relief, then said, "Well, if you need me, just call out to me, okay?"

Again, receiving a small nod in reply, Alice slowed walked back to the wooden house, glancing back at Anna every now and then. Ever since the start of the year, Anna had been spending more and more time staring into what appears to be thin air. Even though Alice sometimes doubted Anna's sanity, she knew that Anna was aware of what people thought of her, and so, she tried to act neutral about it, but she couldn't help but feel worried. Anna was her younger sister, after all, and she wouldn't want anything bad happening to her.

Meanwhile, Anna continued to stare at the dancing leaves. However, she no longer saw anything related to her Father, instead, she saw an image of a pair of wings, gliding above an ocean…


	3. Story of Nordau

A/N: Last chapter had new characters. May seem like OCs but they're actually Fan Characters. More OCs/FCs soon, hopefully… I don't know how I'm going to make up so many names… There will be some action at the end of this Chapter. Thank you for your support, everyone!

Chapter 3: Story of Nordau

-Dawn Castle, 28th February, 20XX

"I knew about the dragons and where the Generals were keeping them almost immediately after I've been brought back here," Xenophon said.

It was the next day after Cat had convinced Matt to go down to the cellars and saw the truth for himself- The Four Guardians were keeping Youth Stealers, and that they were using them to steal young children from their parents. It had been late at night when Xenophon led the two out of the cellars, but he wasted no time into explaining their current situation the very next morning. The three were currently in his private chambers.

"Well, it took us eight years to find out," Cat sighed, "But how did you find that out? More importantly, why are you still here? You should've ran away when you found out about the truth,"

Xenophon smirked, "I'll explain that to you in just a second, just make sure your minds don't get blown after hearing what I have to say,"

Matt shrugged at the blue-haired teen's words. He couldn't find anything that was more outrageous that being kidnapped by dragons and taken across an ocean. A large one, in fact, he learnt that the ocean he was taken across had been the Tsuna Ocean- which was one of the largest oceans in the world- from some of the maps he found within the studies of the castle.

"I'm a dragon-human hybrid- My Mother is a Dragon and my Father is a Human,"

Matt and Cat looked at Xenophon as if he were mad, then they looked at each other, and then looked at Xenophon again. What the blue-haired teen just said had to be the most outrageous thing they've ever experienced, even if both have been through some rather interesting situations where others, if they ever heard of it, would find it outrageous, or, think that it doesn't make any sense, at the very least. And right now, the two didn't know if Xenophon's words had made any sense- at all.

"That's impossible," Cat said at last, "Humans can't mate with Dragons- it just doesn't make any sense,"

The Dragon-Human Hybrid rolled his eyes, "That's because mating isn't necessary for an off-spring between a Dragon and a Human," Xenophon explained, "It's doesn't work like that. Dragon-Human off-springs are formed by combining the Dragon's Energy Sphere- which is a kind of energy taken directly from a Dragon's Core- and the Human's Aura- which is the core energy which allows humans to cast spells- though, I can't say I'm all that surprised that you didn't know about this, Hybrids between Humans and Dragons can be very rare,"

"That's quite hard to believe, you know," Cat said as she eyed the blue-haired teen suspiciously.

"I have a Dragon's Mark to prove it," Xenophon replied. A Dragon's Mark is a symbol of any shape that is imprinted on top of a dragon's heart- which is showed as a symbol on the dragon's chest- to identify a dragon from another. Like most Magical Beings, a Dragon's Mark is also known as the 'sole symbol' of a Dragon, as every single Dragon Mark is different than one and other. Like a human's fingerprints, there are no Dragon Marks that looks exactly the same, not even a twin's Dragon Mark is completely identical. They might be similar, but never identical. As Xenophon took of his chest plate, Matt and Cat can see the Hybrid's Dragon Mark, which is two lines coiling together in a spiral-like shape, circling each other twice, and it was glowing blue, too.

"Wait a minute," Matt said as the other male put his armor back on, "What does being half-dragon have anything to do with you being able to find those Youth Stealers in the Castle Cellars?"

"Being half-dragon," Xenophon started, "means that I have certain gifts that normal humans do not have; enchanted hearing, certain resistances to spells, and being able to communicate with dragons are some of them. Immediately after my arrival, I heard cries coming from the cellar. No one else heard it, though; the sounds were probably too weak for humans to hear,"

"And so you followed those sounds, went down into the cellars, and found out about the Youth Stealers," Cat summarized for him, "But why didn't you leave? Why'd you stay here?"

"Ah, yes, about that…" Xenophon paused for a while, trying to find the right words to explain to his companions, "As you know, I'm half dragon. That means I can understand the dragon tongue- which is the language dragons use to communicate with one and other. Therefore, I can understand what the Youth Stealers were saying when I met them in the cellars…" The Hybrid shook his head and continued, "They were afraid, every one of them, but the Youth Stealers have been here long enough to know all about the structures of this castle, and they were kind enough to tell me everything they knew, mostly due to me being half-dragon. But you see, I felt like I couldn't leave, much like the reason those Youth Stealers would trust me, I felt attached to those dragons… I felt like we were of the same kin, which was pretty hilarious, actually, considering that they were the ones that basically took me away from my parents. But anyways, there were a few things that I learnt from them…

- Dawn Castle Cellars, 22th January, 200X

As the eight-year-old neared the caged dragons, most of the Youth Stealers shuffled towards the back of their cages, only one, which was much larger than the rest, stayed where it was, its large red eyes looking closely at Xenophon, making the child stop a few feet away from the cages.

"_Come closer, boy,"_ the Dragon said in its own tongue. The hybrid child was hesitant at first, not knowing whether or not to trust the dragon that had taken him so far away from his home.

Seeing that the blue-haired child had not moved an inch from where he was standing, the Dragon growled,_ "I said; come closer,"_ Sensing the annoyed tone of the Dragon, Xenophon obeyed and moved towards the cages in order not to anger the Dragon. When he stood so close to the Youth Stealer that he could basically touch its feathered wings through the bars of the cages, the large reptile bowed its head so that the being's furious eyes were staring into the child's dark-blue ones. Xenophon whimpered in fear when he felt the Dragon sniff him twice. The Dragon lifted its head, before saying, _"You smell like one of us… that's good enough for me. What're you doing here, boy?"_ The Dragon asked, but his voice no longer sounded hostile, in fact, it was filled with fatherly concern.

"_I d-don't know… sir…"_ Xenophon said, unknowingly using the language that his Mother had taught him. The Dragon blinked in surprise, obviously not expecting an eight-year-old child that knew how to speak the Dragon Tongue. But the Reptile quickly recovered and said, _"Now, now, there is no need to be so formal, we're all of the same kin, are we not?"_ There was a murmur between the Youth Stealers, some agreed with the largest Reptile, but some seemed unsure of what to make of the statement, but the Largest Dragon ignored the rest of the reptiles and said, _"You can just call me 'Lar' Nordau,'"_

Xenophon learnt that a Dragon's name is similar to a human's name from his mother; a Dragon's name consists of a Familier name- which is the name of the family tree of the Dragon; and a Sole name- which is the Actual name of the Dragon. 'Lar' was probably the dragon's Familier name, and 'Nordau' was probably his Sole name.

"_I'm Xenophon,_" the blue-haired child said. There was a murmur between all of the Youth Stealers again, but Xenophon could not make out what they were talking about, but he assumed that it was important, as even Nordau engaged in their silent conversation. Finally, Nordau turned to Xenophon and said, _"Well, Xenophon, since you're here, we might as well tell you something,"_

"_I know what you're thinking… you think that we willingly worked for the ordeal and his Four Generals?"_ Xenophon stayed silent as Nordau continued, _"Well, it ain't the truth. You have every right not to believe us, as we did take you far away from home,"_ the Dragon sighed and said, _"You see, we never wanted to work with the ordeal… a Demon Spawn, he is. We were once free, before the ordeal got his hands on this accursed gemstone…"_

"_This gemstone has magical properties, and it seems like it was made for bending other's will to do the user's bidding. None of us knew the existing of this gemstone, so, we were unprepared when the ordeal went up to our Nest and unleashed its power,"_

"_In the end, the Ordeal and his Four Generals took a large amount of Newborn with them… They took a large amount of newly hatched dragons,_" Nordau added when he saw that Xenophon didn't understand what the word 'Newborn' meant.

"_And of course, we were some of the Newborns that they took… most didn't make it… those who did were half-dead when they went through…"_ Nordau was silent for a long while, but he shook his head and said, _"What I'm trying to say is… every four full moons, the Ordeal will use this Gemstone and order us to kidnap- to take- young children away from their homes and bring them back here._" There was another pause, _"I- We- None of us were aware of what was happening,"_ The Dragon sighed, _"Xenophon, you should run away while you still can. You may not know it, but the Ordeal is planning something… It's not just about taking children away from their parents, he is planning something much more, and you should not be a part of it. Now get out before anyone finds out you were here…"_

- Dawn Castle, 28th February, 20XX

"But, as you probably know, I didn't leave. Instead, I stayed," Xenophon said, "Nordau was actually quite mad when I told him that I was staying behind… But I knew I had to think of some way to let other people elsewhere know about this,"

"First, I had to find someone that would believe what I'd just said," Matt and Cat glanced at each other briefly. "Someone that had seen the unbelievable for themselves. I wouldn't want to tell anyone and let everyone think I'm crazy, or worse, someone telling the Ordeal and result in…" Xenophon trailed off, but the other two knew what he meant. The Ordeal was a harsh and unforgiving person. If the Ordeal found out that they'd been to the cellars, they would receive a punishment that was much more worse than death. "So, I started spending more time in the cellars, waiting for someone to uncover the truth for themselves" Xenophon continued, "It was a huge risk, but well worth it, though,"

"So you're going to help us escape?" Cat asked hopefully.

"On some conditions," Xenophon said, "You have to tell as many people about this Castle and what was happening within these walls of the Castle if you managed to escape- it'll be hard, though, this Castle's sitting on an island no one has been before. Also, you'll have to come back and help all the others escape, too. They may not believe you and the Ordeal and his Four Generals will get in the way, but try to save as many people as possible; I don't know what the Ordeal might be planning, but one thing's for sure- it can't be good."

Matt nodded, "Sounds reasonable…" he said, "But it'll be hard to convince people about this,"

Xenophon smiled, "You'll think of something. And this brings us to the second topic- training,"

"By now, both of you probably know some basic survival skills in combat training, but it won't be enough if you're planning to escape this castle. You've mostly been taught how to parry or backstab an opponent, but it won't be of any use in this escape- there'll be too many knights and mages, maybe even archers, to fight off, and, if you're in luck, they might even send Youth Stealers after you- The Ordeal has made up his mind that he didn't want anyone knowing about his plans and he'll do anything to keep anyone else from knowing. So you'll be cornered and there'll be no way that you can fight your way out of it. Besides, the main goal of escaping is to get away as quickly as possible, not killing everyone in sight, so you'll also have to get used to combat without those heavy- *** armors that they usually give you- they'll slow you down plenty,"

Cat nodded in agreement, "Well, it makes much sense… If you know all this, then we'll be okay as long as we stick with you,"

"Who said I was going?" Xenophon replied, "I'm too attached to those dragons to leave them now… you'll be on your own once you leave the walls of this Castle- Don't worry, though, I'll teach you all I know before the Fourth Full Moon that's about two weeks away- Everyone will probably be too occupied with the Youth Stealers to do anything about you,"

"You teach us all you know?" Matt questioned, "You're not any older than us, and I'm quite sure being a hybrid doesn't make you an excellent teacher,"

Xenophon snorted, "Oh, come on. I know things that you'll never learn if no one like me told you; just yesterday, you found the Youth Stealers in the cellars; Half an hour ago, you learnt how a dragon-human hybrid was made; and later, you'll know that you still have a long way to go before you can be considered as a swordsman,"

Matt's eyes flared up in anger, "You'll take that back," he said. The blond was always considered to be one of the most skilled sword wielders in the castle, and, with his knowledge of sword-spells, he was basically undefeatable, at least, that was what everyone else said, and he was not about to let the blue haired teen ruin his reputation.

Xenophon noticed the hint of anger in Matt's voice, so, he smirked and said, "I bet I can unarm you without using any sword-spells in…" Xenophon paused and thought briefly before saying, "Under two minutes,"

"You're on," Matt said without even thinking. Cat eyed Matt in shock and astonishment. She knew that Matt's stubborn attitude usually got him into trouble, but before she could say anything, Matt said, "And since the training hall is crowed with people around this time, everyone will be there to see your defeat," Cat brought her hand to her forehead at this.

"Don't be so sure," Xenophon shot back, "If I won, then everyone will be there to see_ your_ defeat,"

- Dawn Castle Training Hall, 28th February, 20XX

"The rules are simple," Xenophon explained, "Both of us can only use one of our swords, no Sword-Spells and no killing your opponent,"

It was mid-noon, and the sight of the two swordsmen at the center room had already attracted a huge crowd, and some of the individuals in the crowd were already placing bets.

Both Matt and Xenophon were only in their basic clothing, with no armor of any sort, and each held a single sword. Matt sword was red and black; in fact, one side of the sword resembled that of a saw. He was wielding his Blood Blade.

Xenophon's sword was mainly silver, accompanied by a gold sword holder and crowned by a shimmering red germ. It also gave a somewhat holy, white aura as he took the sword out of his sword holder.

"Oh, no kicking under the belt, too," Xenophon added jokingly, "Ready when you are,"

As soon as those words left his mouth, the blond swordsman bolted towards his opponent in an instant, and, when the other was in range, the blond swung his sword at him.

The other was taken slightly by surprise, but managed to evade the full blow of the attack by jumping back and ducking. However, due to the saw-like edge of Matt's sword, his left shoulder was grazed when the other withdrew his sword, preparing for another attack.

Xenophon was prepared when Matt swung his Blood Blade at him again, and he quickly held his sword over his head horizontally in a defensive manner just as the other's blood red blade collided against his gold and silver one.

Matt quickly withdrew his sword again and shoved his sword forward in an attempt to stab the other in his gut, but Xenophon had already leapt away before the other's sword could even make contact with him.

Xenophon, wasting no time at all, immediately darted towards his opponent, and as he neared his opponent and saw him raise the Blood Blade defensively, bracing himself for an attack, the blue haired teen double-handed his weapon and faked his first attack, thrusting his sword forward, but almost immediately, he withdrew it. Seeing as the other had fallen for the decoy attack as the other's sword tilted to the side in an attempt to block an 'attack', Xenophon's sword shot forward again and wounded the other's right arm.

The swordsman winced and recoiled, and Xenophon's next attack stunned every occupation in the hall. Instead of using the sharp end of his sword, the Blue-haired teen slammed the handle of his sword against the other's head with such force that it send the other flying across the hall and landing on his back, leaving the blond stunned and unable to get back on his feet.

For a long while, no one said anything. Everyone was absolutely shocked by the outcome of this match- everyone knew that Matt was probably one of the most skilled swordsmen, but somehow, this challenger had defeated him so easily. It was either Matt was not as good as he made himself appear to be, or that this challenger liked to keep a low profile… The hall was completely silent until a voice rung out, "Dude! That wasn't even two minutes! "

An explosion of screams and demands flooded the hall shortly after, and Matt could only groan hide his face in embarrassment.


	4. Run

A/N: Hello! Welcome back everyone! I hope you've enjoyed the story so far, I'll be adding a few more main characters soon, so it wouldn't get too dull… ^^' Also some references here and there. Sorry that this chapter took so long, but I was having my finals and there was this project that needed to be completed… so yeah, as much as I would like to entertain you guys, real life comes first… Anyways! As usual, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 4: Run

- Dawn Castle Training Hall, 13th March, 20XX

The air was filled with the sounds of metal- that were actually swords- clashing against each other. One of the swords was gold and silver, crowned by a red gem on its handle; the other was of a black color, with red lines decorating the sharp edges of the sword.

As the two swords collided with each other again, the loud clang produced by the two swords echoed through the training hall and the wielder of the Avenger, Matt, leapt back in order to avoid a parrying attack by Xenophon- the wielder of the Gold and Silver Blade. The Blond leapt to his left again to avoid a thrusting attack by the other swordsmen.

Xenophon, despite being only sixteen, had enchanted strength- another gift of being half dragon- and was roughly twice as strong as any human his age. Matt was not prepared when the hybrid had slammed his sword holder into his head- He was so dizzy after the blow to his head that he couldn't even stand up straight.

But despite the humiliation he had during their first match, Matt knew that he was getting better; Xenophon could no longer block any of his attacks as easily- Matt could tell that Xenophon had to actually try to block or parry his attacks.

As Matt leapt towards the other male, he swung his sword repeatedly at him, not giving the other time to recover after each blow. He had learnt that combo sometime during his training, and was certainly putting everything he had learnt into good use. With another thrusting attack, he had the other pinned to the wall with his sword at the other's neck.

Xenophon only grinned, "Alright, you win, that was a good match," the other said as Matt withdrew his sword from the other, cheers and applauses rung through the hall as he did so. Matt nodded to the other, "Yeah, it was," he said.

Xenophon looked around briefly, before saying, "Well, I think we should take a nice, long rest, don't you think?" Matt nodded, but he knew what the other was really talking about- it was already late noon, and in a few hours, they would have to put their escape plan into action. Matt wondered if it was possible to even step out of the walls of the castle as he followed the other teen out of the Training Hall. For starters, high walls were built around the Castle. It wasn't so high that you'd fall to your death if you jumped off, but certainly high enough to break something if attempted.

Then there was the part where Matt and Cat had to get off of the island. Even if the two somehow managed to get out of the Castle unharmed, they still had the rescuers to worry about. Xenophon was quite certain that the rescuers would be too focused on the Youth Stealers to do anything about the duo, but even in the rescuers didn't spot them, the Youth Stealers might. Then what would they do?

In fact, their escape plan wasn't even a plan at all. One could say that it was merely just a bundle of luck, chances and flaws. But Matt didn't really have much of a choice if they wanted to escape. It wasn't like the Four Guardians or the Ordeal would just willingly let anyone leave…

- Dawn Castle, 13th March, 20XX

"Cat! You got that rope ready yet?" Xenophon said as he led Matt into his private quarters. Xenophon had told Cat to look for anything that could be made into a long cord for whatever the reason. The longer, the better, he'd said, which really confused both Matt and Cat. There was nothing to tie the rope to if Xenophon had planned for them to climb down the walls of the Castle, and if that wasn't what Xenophon was planning on doing… then the two were clueless as to what Xenophon had in mind.

Cat looked up briefly from her work, "Yeah, it's almost about done, I think. It should be long enough for whatever purpose you have in mind…" she mumbled as she finished tying the last few knots of the long cord that was a combination of ropes, sheets and whatever that could be tied up to form a rope. As she stood up and held up her creation, Matt can see that the 'rope' was probably around forty feet long- which was barely enough for them to climb down the Castle walls if they attempted to, but again, there was nothing for them to tie the rope to.

Xenophon examined her work briefly before saying, "It'll be enough, I suppose,"

"In all seriousness, though, what are you planning to do with the rope? It's not like there's any flag poles or hooks for us to bound the rope to if that's what you're thinking…" Matt said, curiosity getting the better of him. Sure, Xenophon had told them that he had everything all planned and set up, but he still somewhat questioned the other's motivations.

But Xenophon, being the care-free little bastard he was, only grinned, "I'm not going to tell you, Matt. If I did, the two of you would probably think of other alternatives, some might be even riskier. So, no, you'll know when we get to that part," he simply said.

"I don't understand," Cat said, "I mean, we could possibly think of something better if there's anything wrong with the plan, right? Why hide it until the very last moment?"

"Trust me, Cat," Xenophon said, "If I didn't, the two of you would probably do something even more stupid- like trying to smash through the front gate of the Castle while being chased by an army, I suppose,"

Matt snorted, "Yeah, like, we're totally going to do that and get ourselves killed,"

"And I do believe you will," Xenophon replied calmly, "For now, just bear with me, okay?"

"Fine, fine," Matt said, "I suppose we don't really have much of a choice, do we?"

Xenophon shook his head, "No, we don't really have much of a choice," he said, "Look, there's something else I want to tell you," he said as he pulled out his gold and silver sword. The Holy Aura that it gave out never failed to impress the blond swordsman- with its shimmering gold and silver hue, the sword was like something that was from the heavens.

"Take it," Matt blinked, trying to process what the other had just said, "What?"

"You deaf? I said take the sword," Xenophon said bluntly.

Matt was truly at a loss of what to say. He silently looked at the other's Gold and Silver blade. In truth, when Xenophon had first pulled out this sword, he was amazed by the golden hue it gave out, accompanied with an aura with holiness, as if the sword itself represented skill, grace, and power.

In other words, it was perfect.

"…Why?" it was the only thing Matt could think of. The sword felt so pure even just by looking at it, and he felt like it was a sin to even touch the holy sword.

"Hey, you'll take care of it for me, won't you?" Xenophon said, "And I won't be around to help you or anything once you've left, so you might as well take the extra help,"

As Matt stretched out his hand to accept the offered sword, he barely managed not to flinch at the cold sensation of the sword- it was like holding an ice cube, but without the ice melting in your hand, but the sensation faded away soon enough.

"…You're really giving me your sword?" Matt asked, still unsure on whether or not to accept the other's gift.

"Just take it, it's the least I can do to help you. And you better take good care of it- don't lose it or anything stupid like that, or I'm going to smash your face in, then give you another face, then smash it in, again,"

Matt let out a nervous chuckle, "So, what's it called?" he asked. He never really knew the name of the sword.

The other shrugged, making Matt arch an eyebrow. "It's your sword now. You name it,"

"Well…" Matt looked back at the holy blade in his hand as he tried to come up with a suitable name for it. After a long while, he looked up and said, "Heaven's Gate,"

"What?"

"The Heaven's Gate- I think that's what I'll call it,"

"Alright, whatever you say- like I said, it's your sword now,"

- Dawn Castle Walls, 13th March, 20XX

Hours later, the sun had already set, and the trio found themselves on the very high walls of the Castle. Climbing up had been the easy part- the three used something called 'stairs' to get up one side of the wall.

Too bad there was no such thing on the other side of it.

As Matt looked over the edge of the wall the three were currently on, he couldn't help but shiver- in short, it was a really long way down. He assumed that he'd probably break one of his legs if he jumped off right there and then.

Or maybe even two.

"What now?" he heard Cat, who was currently holding the long cord, said, and he turned his attention back to his two companions, " I still don't know why we have this long rope if we have nothing to tie it to up here," It was true- there were no poles or anything of that matter.

The Hybrid smiled, "There is something to tie the rope to, you know,"

Cat looked around again briefly, but when she found nothing again, she said, "No, there's not. The guard towers are too wide for that, and I don't see anything else that could work,"

Xenophon just shrugged and said, "There is a reason why I'm still here, you know,"

It took Matt and Cat a while to figure out what Xenophon had just said, and everything clicked into place.

"Wait… you're going to hold onto the rope… while we climb down it?" Matt asked, and when the other male nodded, Matt almost lost it, "Are you crazy? There's no way that's going to work!"

"Of course it is," Xenophon said, as if it was a fact, "I'm not exactly human, so I do believe I can manage that,"

"Even so, you're not strong enough!" Cat argued, "Unless we climb down the rope one at a time-"

"No; too much climbing, too little time," Xenophon objected, and Matt and Cat glanced at each other briefly. Maybe trying to smash through the front gate of the Castle while being chased by an army wasn't really a bad idea after all. At least they would still have a chance of getting away. If the two– for obvious reasons- fell before reaching the ground… it wasn't going to be pretty, to say the least.

"And this is exactly why I never told you this," Xenophon sighed, and continued, "The front gates are closed by now, if you're thinking of doing… that. And it'll be another few months before you get another opportunity like this,"

"Do you not trust me?" Xenophon added when he saw the other two's expression, "I wouldn't have even thought about this if I wasn't sure of myself! Hurry up! We haven't got much time- an hours, or two at the most, so I suggest you two start climbing down- like, now," Xenophon said as he grabbed the rope from Cat and threw it over the edge of the wall, a soft 'thud' was heard when the rope made contact with the ground seconds later.

Matt and Cat only looked at each other, before looking back at the elder male. As much as the two hated to admit it, they really didn't have much of a choice- it was far too late to change plans now. The two slid down to grab onto the rope that suspended them in mid-air or, more likely, Xenophon, and started climbing downwards, into the unknown depths below.

- Dawn Castle Outer Walls, 13th March, 20XX

As both Matt and Cat landed onto the ground with a soft thud, the 'rope' suddenly jerked, then the rest of it slumped down onto the floor with them.

Matt looked up briefly at Xenophon. It was quite hard to really see anything from where he was standing, with the moon acting as the only light source. And the trees weren't helping, either- their leaves were blocking out much of the dim light that emitted from the moon. Matt could only barely make out Xenophon's outline in the inky darkness. He couldn't really hear the blue-haired teen anymore, but he could mentally hear him saying, "Don't just stand there- Get a move on!"

The blonde looked back at Cat. The black-haired girl was looking at him with the 'I'm impatient' look that he often got when he'd made her wait too long- whether if it was when she needed him to lend her a hand or simply getting her something to read. And right now, she was probably waiting for him to start running.

Matt nodded at her, before saying, "We should start running,"

And the duo took off, feeling into the small woods. The two knew that the island was big, but it wasn't huge- the two knew that if they kept running, they would eventually end up at the edge of the island- where the sea starts and stretches onward to who knows where.

They would worry about that later. Their main concern right now is to not be noticed by any of the rescuers.

A sudden shriek tore through the once-quiet night, and as both Matt and Cat halted suddenly to look at the direction of which it had come from, they saw that the night sky was effulged in bright flames.

They resumed running, at a faster pace. Both knew that they had both the rescuers and the Youth Stealers to deal with now.

-Red Ore Kingdom Docks, 13th March, 20XX

She ran along the shore, the cold waves of the wide ocean occasionally brushing at her feet. Her angelic wings were outstretched, giving her extra balance. She could not afford to lose her balance and end up falling onto the somewhat murky waters- that would waste much of her precious time. She was faintly aware that she was leaving behind a trail of uneven footprints along the coast, but she didn't pay it much attention- she knew that they would be swept away by the tides soon enough.

One would ask why she had chosen to tread across the beach, instead of flying, when she was on such a tight schedule, and when she was quite clearly able to do so.

If it wasn't for the fact that the Kingdom had beings that can easily sense the presence of flying objects or beings, though, she would have happily done so. But right now, she didn't need any unwanted attention- not when she was planning a theft.

She continued to run along the shore, not even stopping for the slightest while to catch her breath- she wasn't used to running long distances, not when she had the privilege of flight- Only stopping when she finally reached a dock- her destination.

But that didn't meant that she'd completed her task- in fact, reaching the docks was just half of her problems solved.

She climbed up onto the docks and neared the edge of it, looking for a boat- if that wasn't obvious enough- she didn't need a huge one, just a small one that could at least carry one or two person will do. She quickly made up her mind and went to slicing the thick rope that connected the boat to the docks, using a small pocket knife that she'd pick up for this mission. Again, she could have easily formed a sharp piece of ice and be done with it, but the mages here can track energy signatures- if she used anything that will leave her energy signature behind, it wouldn't even take a day before the mages of this kingdom found her, especially when they were very well trained- and she couldn't afford that right now.

Finally, the rope broke into half with a loud 'snap!', and she cheered silently in her own mind, but quickly jumped off the docks and into the cold, ocean waters, and began pushing the small, yet inconveniently heavy boat towards the open sea. Ocean she was certain that she wouldn't be caught flying away from the kingdom; she hauled herself onto the boat, taking the long cord that was still attached to the boat, and took flight, dragging the heavy wooden boat behind her. But she knew she couldn't afford to slow down, even if the heavy weight of the wooden boat made it hard for her not to do so.

She continued to fly towards her final destination, though. It was going to be a long journey, one that will take her across the Tsuna Ocean, the largest ocean in the world. But she was determined to complete it- she knew that her 'eaglet' needed her- even if he wasn't aware of it- and she wasn't about to let him down.

And so, with only an hour- or if she was in luck- two at the most, she flew towards her destination, her wings beating strongly with determination.


	5. Unknowing Help

A/N: Ah, so we're finally making some progress after four Chapters! More Characters, main or sub, are starting to reveal themselves?

On a side note, I have a beta now! So there should be fewer mistakes; grammar and spelling wise. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this Chapter! ^_^

Chapter 5: Unknowing Help

- Miles from Dawn Castle, 13th March, 20XX

He groaned, trying to blink away the dizziness that enveloped him. The first thing that registered in his mind was scent. The smell of blood was thick, filling the air with its copper taste.

The second thing that he was aware of was pain. His chest burned with it. Every breath he took had sent a stinging pain that shot through his entire body.

The third thing that he was aware of, if ever so faintly was the bright red lights in the distance that decorated the night sky; and the sounds of shrieking- too high for that of a human throat.

He cringed as another wave of pain washed through him, this time he was faintly aware that the pain was also coming from his hands. And something- or someone- was also painfully tugging at his arm.

"Matt… get up… hurry!" He blinked when the familiar voice reached his ears.

And it all came back to him; he was Matt, a fifteen year old swordsman, who, eight years ago was captured by Youth Stealers and brought to Dawn Castle. He had a friend, called Cat, who was also captured along with a group of other children. Eight years later both found out the Ordeal and his four Generals were behind the raid. Both knew they had to escape- and partly succeeded in doing so with the help of Xenophon- also another one of the captured children. The half dragon had helped them get down the outer walls of the Dawn Castle, and told the two to start running.

Then things got ugly.

The two friends had begun to run. Eleven minutes into their escape they barely avoided the rescuers. Thirty minutes into their escape they have been spotted by the Youth Stealers. Thirty minutes and roughly fifteen seconds into their escaper the two find themselves dodging fireballs left and right, and, at the same time, drawing a lot of unwanted attention to themselves by altering the rescuers of their presence.

And thirty six minutes into the duo's escape, the force from one of the fireballs manages to knock Matt off his feet- resulting in him flying back from the force and sliding of the edge of a cliff which, in return, had him falling roughly ten feet through the air, and landing heavily on his back. The shock from the fall dazed him, and the heat from the blow ate away at the fragile human skin of his hands- the stray flames also managed to graze his face- causing him to bleed out from his wounds- which was pretty much what was happening. Right now. At this very moment.

He let out a strangled cry and sat up the best he can as the sudden flow of memories hit him, like how a wave would burst a dam open. Upon opening his eyes, he came to face his friend, Cat, who was doing the best she can to urge him onto his feet and resume running.

"Matt! Get up! Hurry! They're closing in!" Cat cried desperately as she tried to haul Matt onto his feet. Matt groaned as he stood up, head still spinning, but thankfully, the pain on his chest had died down into a light throb. The huge roar of another fireball colliding against a tree was enough for him to snap wide awake.

He started to run when he felt Cat do so, the other almost dragging him behind her. He quickly caught his own footing, and began to quicken his own pace, and, at the same time, catching up to Cat.

He cursed, though, when a tree was blasted down, nearly crushing the duo in its wake, and Matt was sure that there was no way that the rescuers hadn't heard that, if they haven't heard them already from all the Fire Blasts caused by the Youth Stealers.

A dragon with ice-frozen wings falling from the sky and ramming into the tree before them, bringing another tree down in the process marked the rescuers presence, and, of all the things he could have thought of, the word, "****" was what came out of his mouth, and he earned a disapproving glare from Cat for that. Cat always decided against swearing- no matter how bad the situation at hand seems.

And right now, saying that the situation was bad was an understatement- their situation was downright horrible and there was no way it could get any worse.

And then it did- The Youth Stealers started dive bombing at them.

"Duck!" Cat screamed when the first Dragon missed the duo by mere inches as the two ducked to the side, the dragon leaving behind a torn trail of soil as it shot back towards the sky.

Others soon follow.

Talons outstretched, the furious reptile made a screeching sound, before it shot towards the two, its eyes glowing bright red, as if a monster wanting to tear the two teens apart limb by limb.

Matt dodged to the side again as another one or two of the Dragons attempted to catch him in their huge claws, successfully avoiding the dragons' assault.

Cat wasn't so lucky- after successfully getting away from the first two dragons, the third dragon had dove at her from behind, catching her completely off guard as the dragon had her dangling in midair from its clawed hands in one powerful down stroke, Cat screamed as she realized that she was being carried away by the terrifying reptile…

And Matt screamed when the very same dragon was shocked with an expert thunder spell before falling a few tree tops from where he was.

Matt really wanted to run over to his friend. He had an urge to rush over to her side, pick her up, and run away to escape from the dangers. But one look at his friend convinced him otherwise- Cat's face was bloodied, even though her beautiful red locks covered most of her face, it was clear to Matt that no one would be able to survive a Thunder Shock that powerful. The Youth Stealer didn't, so what chance did Cat had?

Matt turned and ran. It was actually easier to get away now, as the Youth Stealers were busy with the rescuers, and that the rescuers were too busy trying to identify his friend to pay much attention to him.

Matt tried to focus on running, or at least, focus the best he can. He tried shoved his emotions to the back of his head, trying to avoid any distractions, if possible. But as he continued to run, he found that his mind constantly drifted back towards the horribly clear image of Cat's dead body, no matter how hard he tried to ignore those thoughts. And it almost came to the point where he found no reason to continue anymore. He felt his legs giving out, felt tired of running, felt so light headed to the point where he almost fainted.

But he knew he had to continue, despite how he thought so otherwise. At the very least, he had to fulfill Xenophon's wishes. After what the hybrid had done for them… him.

It was just himself, now. Cat was dead.

Roughly another thirty minutes later, Matt finally reached the end of the island. He let his feet splash into the freezing water as he tried to regain his breath.

Matt coughed for a while, before looking around. His vision was blurred by the sweat that trickled down his forehead and his eyes while he was running. Matt rubbed his eyes before taking in his surroundings; Trees, some rocks, sand, and a lot of water.

His heart sank. Of course, how could he forget? Not even Xenophon had been sure if there was even a way to get of the damned island. He didn't know what he had been hoping for, but he thought that maybe he would have been in luck. Alas, all his efforts were in vain.

He sat down onto the sand and felt like falling over to his side and crying. He didn't even know what he should do now. He suddenly found the whole situation painfully hilarious- he never knew what do to. He never did. It was just now that he realized that the reason he got so far was the help he had gotten from his two friends. And now, without his friends, he was lost, uncertain, and confused of what he was to do.

Without his friends, he was basically useless.

The truth hurt. A lot. But He wasn't mad at himself for relying too much on his friends. He was mad at himself. How could he? How could he be so weak to not be able to save his friend, when the other had done so much for him? It wasn't fair- she deserved so much more than he did. But since when was life really fair?

He was about to cry in frustration when he noticed a spark of light emitting from the sea. He quickly snapped his head up, thinking that he was found by the red-eyed dragons and he was about to be buried by dozens of fire balls. But instead, he saw nothing. The trees were still singing as their leaves rattled with the wind, and the ocean still looked dark and miserable as when he had first set eyes on it.

Wait… was what that?

Matt frowned and stood up to get a better look at the object. It was quite far away from the shore, just floating above the surface of the water. It was dark, but he could barely make out the shape of the floating object-

It was a boat.

Matt didn't even bother to wonder why there was a small boat floating in the ocean, near an island probably no one knew. All he did was swam out to it and got onto the boat gratefully, quickly falling into unconsciousness, due to his wounds and his lack of strength from excessive running.

-Red Ore Kingdom Docks, 14th March, 20XX

A figure walked across the shores of the Red Ore Kingdom. He was a young man in his early twenties, with spiky white hair and angelic wings. But if one looked close enough, they could see that the wings composed of both feathers and fur, which were white as the winter snow. His long robes were a light shade of grey; its sleeves were black and decorated with white, spiral like patterns. The same thing could be said with the black belt that was tied around his waist.

The male had been patrolling these shores for the last eight years, ever since the first incident with a new race of dragons everyone had come to name the 'Youth Stealers', for they stole children. And people have yet to find out what on earth they had done with their children.

Skyloids like him had tried to fly after the Youth Stealers in an attempt to catch them, or to at least find out where they were heading. Unfortunately, the winged dragons were a lot faster than they were. Their dark colored feathers, well hidden within the night only proved the Dragons to be a pain to track down, if even possible.

He sighed as he thought about the Mothers and Fathers who must be sick with grief when their children had been forcefully taken from them, but he quickly turned his attention back to the shores. Scales, feathers, tracks- anything. Anything that could help them know more about these reptiles could be proven valuable. This was why he was walking along the shore, trying to find even the slightest hint that had been left behind by the dragons, but so far, he had found none.

A padding sound coming from behind him caught his attention, and he spun around to identify the new comer- A large wolf- nearly as tall as himself- donned in white fur that carried a hint of silver. Its black eyes dark as coal, with the occasional patch of light blue fur in contrast of its white fur, creating patterns and symbols from its forehead down to its bushy tail. Most people will run immediately if this huge canine was sighted. Yet, the figure did not flee, but smiled warmly as he extended his hand out to the wolf, his fingers stroking the large mammal's fur.

He turned around and continued to walk, signaling the large wolf to follow. Of course he wasn't afraid of the over-grown canine- why would he be anyways? The two's history went a long time back, but in short, the wolf and him were like best friends- brothers, even. If he wasn't mistaken, he had met the large mammal when he was barely a Down- the equivalent to a human toddler.

When he was young, he used to live in his homeland, Skylandia, which was also every other Skyloids' homeland anyways. It was kind of like a Kingdom that existed in the sky. Some people know about it, but none had been there actually. But that didn't matter, that was where he had met his large canine friend that he, ironically, had named 'Wolf'.

He chuckled lightly at the memory but then mentally kicked himself for being so distracted easily. Now wasn't the time for trips down memory lane… The case of the Youth Stealers had been so confusing it had the Order of the Red Ore Kingdom worked up, his 'eaglet' being one of those people. Other Skyloids had tried to help in search of possible tracks that the dragons might have left behind after their raid, but so far, none of them had been quite successful.

That was another mystery- it was quite clear that the Youth Stealers know magic. That was how those red-eyed dragons have been able to breathe fire. Yet, they left behind no trails of magic that could be picked up by the Skyloids or Mages in the kingdom. Or did the dragons simply use another trait of magic that they could not pick up? Either way, it was another interesting fact about the Youth Stealers that was worth thinking over.

Another hour of scanning the shore searching for tracks and possibly energy signals later, the Skyloid was about to give up and head back to the Order and to report his findings, but Wolf started clawing at the soft sand and barking at… the ocean?

"Wolf? What's wrong?" he asked as he walked closer to the wolf, his hand reaching out to touch the large creature on its snout. But the canine only gave him a brief glance before he continued to growl at what appears to be open water.

The Skyloid frowned, and he, too, looked towards the ocean as well. At first, he saw nothing but miles and miles of deep ocean blue. He was about to tell his canine friend to snap out of it when he spotted something. It was quite far away, but he saw it, nonetheless.

Swiftly, he spread his wings, and with a single powerful down stroke, he went air-born. He quickly flew towards the tiny object he had just saw in the ocean, and as he neared said object, he could tell that it was a small boat judging by its outline.

He wasn't quite sure what to make of the appearance of this boat, but he quickly realized that there was a person on the boat. But that didn't explain why Wolf acted the way he did- the large canine was sensitive to a Skyloid's scent, not a human's- unless, this person was a Skyloid's 'eaglet'…

He started to take in the person's features when he descended onto the small wooden boat. The person was a blond- that was quite clear- that had hair reaching past the shoulders. The Skyloid took a while to debate whether the person was a male or a female in his mind, but finally decided that the person was probably a boy, judging by his build. The boy was probably around the age of fifteen, wearing light clothing which in some places were torn and burnt. The boy was currently unconscious, sleeping on his side; most of his face was covered by his bags and the boy was completely unaware of the Skyloid's presence.

Eyes wide, he stared at the out cold boy curiously. Where did this child come from? According to the maps from the castle, there was no land beyond this shore- just miles upon miles of water! Unless, he had traveled along the shore of the Kingdom, but the Skyloid immediately realized that the boat was too far away from land for that to be a possibility.

Similarly, concepts and assumptions were created and discarded in the Skyloid's mind. But he still could not make up a possible and logical guess of how the child had got here. He scratched his head. If there was nothing he could come up with, he might as well inform the Order right now…

Noticing the thick rope that was sitting in a heap on the front of the boat, he picked it up and discovered that it was connected to the wooden boat itself. Good, that will make it easier for him to bring the boat to the shore without moving the boy- he didn't really feel like moving the child until the Order decided what to do with him.

Slowly but steadily, he brought the boat to the shore by pulling the boat behind him as he flew with the help of the long cord. As he reached the beach, Wolf padded near the small boat and started growling, but the Skyloid stopped him.

"Wolf, look after the boy for me. I have to inform the Order about this child," He said to the large canine, and received a somewhat hesitant nod as a reply. Knowing that that was probably the best reaction he could get out of his large canine friend, he spread his wings once more and shot into the air, flying towards the Red Ore Castle.


	6. The Untamed

A/N: I don't really have much to say other than that this story still lives. I know most of you don't read this, but I'm still writing this because I want to. : P By the way, I'm starting to steal names now, hope you don't mind.

Chapter 6: The Untamed

-Red Ore Kingdom, 14th March, 20XX

She woke up with a start, her ocean blue eyes snapping open fearfully and her hands holding the sheets over her in her sat up position, as if it would shield her from danger. She blinked a few times, but as her vision cleared, she realized that she was in her own room, the candles on her bed stand next to her was still burning quietly, its dim light barely lit up the large, dark room, and it seems like the small flame was about to go out. She frowned, trying to recall what happened in her vivid dream.

She couldn't really remember that much of her dream at first, but what she was certain of was that she had defiantly heard screaming. It sounded… real, to say the least. The scream had struck fear into her, it sounded enraged, as if the owner of the voice was about to tear his victims apart with bare hands.

She rubbed her eyes. Where was she in the dream again? All she knew that it was quite dark, though there was a tiny bit of lighting… Dreams were usually your mind speaking to you in a different way, right? So maybe this was some place she knew about? All she could think of was the Dungeons of the Red Ore Castle… She had been there once when she was still a little girl. Her Father had brought her to the Castle with him so he could keep an eye on her during his work. Yet she had somehow slipped away from her Father and accidentally wandered to the Dungeons of the Castle. She didn't know what that was at that time, so she didn't realize the dangers that were in there. When her Father found her, he told her to never go near that place ever again.

The sound of a gate opening and closing below her brought her out of her musings. It was probably her Father returning from the Castle.

Sometime during the morning, her Father had left to attend a meeting in the Castle. As always, she never knew what the meetings were about, or why they were so important, because her Father had kept her away from such things. All she knew that her Father was barely at home anymore because of these meetings. Her Father always told her that these things had nothing to do with her, and that she should keep away from them. But these 'important' things were also keeping her Father away from her! She had the right to know!

Jumping out of bed, she quickly slipped on a thick coat before flinging open the door and bolting downstairs. She caught sight of her father, clearly sleep deprived, in the empty hall of the mansion as she was going down the stairs.

"Father!" She called out as she jumped down the last steps of the stairs. "Father, where have you been? Why have you been gone for so long?" She asked as she caught up to her Father, looking up at him with her bright blue eyes, hoping to receive an answer.

"Natalie!" Her father took a moment to recover from the surprise of his daughter's sudden appearance before he regained his composure. "What are you doing up so late? You should be in bed!" He said, his voice stern, but not at all threatening- he was just worried for her daughter's health, after all.

"But father, why is that you are always gone so early in the morning and only return late at night? What's so important about those meetings?" The girl, Natalie, said, frowning slightly.

"I thought I told you, my child, those things are not of your concern!" That was the same answer she'd gotten every time she asked her father why she barely saw him anymore.

"Can't you at least tell me what's it about? Why is it so important?" Natalie yelled, though she shouldn't have done so; it was rude, especially to her father, but she was too frustrated, too annoyed at the moment to care about her attitude and politeness.

"No. I will not get you involved in such things, Natalie, and if you know what is good for you, you will stay clear of it. Did I make myself clear?"

She knew that was final, her father had never wanted her to know what has been taking up so much of his time, so why should he tell her this time, unlike all the other times? Hanging her head in defeat, she sighed. "Yes, father."

"Good," he said, as he placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up at her father's face; worn by age, and grey eyes that matched so perfectly with his now white hair. "Now, off to bed with you; and don't catch a cold, it's quite chilly outside so you might want to close the windows." And with that, the elder had lifted his hand from her shoulder and silently walked away, his daughter only staring at his shadow as he left.

She should have listened to her father; should have gone back to bed; should have left whatever _it_ was alone- but she didn't.

She wanted to know what it was all about. After all, she _deserved_ to know, and she knew a certain person who has spent years reading through the archives that can, maybe, provide her with an answer.

- Red Ore Castle, 14th March, 20XX

He flipped through the pages of a certain file in the archives, frowning slightly as he did so. The place that had stored much information of that of the Kingdom's was a dark, lonely place, filled with historical things. Though to most people, it was merely a dimly light room filled with books, files, and other paperwork that was piled up year after year.

As he continued to read through the files in his hands, the only light source being the white light emitted from his wings, composed of white feathers and fur, he couldn't help but think back to the time when he didn't spend hours upon hours patrolling the shore, or burying his head into the archives, reading through history books and profiles trying to find a link, or a cause from the past that had caused what was happening now. He ran his fingers through his messy white hair as he let out an amused chuckle. He rarely saw his eaglet's daughter nowadays.

'I wonder what she's up too…?'

"Pesdolone!"

Speak of the devil…

"Natalie?" Said Skyloid looked up from the files he was skimming through, and looked at the young teen before him; her orangey hair and blue eyes where still the same as he'd remember last he's saw her… When was the last time he'd saw her again? When she was eight? Nine?

Time sure flies.

"Natalie, what in the name of Skylandia are you doing here?" The contour Skyloid asked as Natalie approached him- to her, he looked like a human male in his early twenties, with the exception of, well, wings sticking out of his back. "How did you even manage to sneak out?"

"I… I climbed out through the window on the second floor of the mansion… I climbed out from my room, because there was a tree right next to the window, and I climbed down that tree- The main entrance was locked by the time my father returned," The girl said, her voice betraying the slight guilt that she held. "But please! You have to tell me what's happening! My father, he always leaves so early in the morning and then he doesn't come back- not until late at night, at least, but he wouldn't tell me what's wrong! He never tells me anything, even if I'm just worried about him!"

Stunned by the younger's speech, Pesdolone furrowed his brows slightly as he spoke. "Natalie, I understand that you are worried for your father, and if I were in your place, I would feel the same way as well, but if he wishes not to tell you of the things that are currently happening in the Kingdom, then it is not my place to tell you-"

"No! Don't give me that answer again!" And that had nearly caused him to jump back in fright at the girl's sudden aggressive words- she was not at all hostile by nature. The girl, realizing that it was probably unwise to speak to a Skyloid with such a harsh tone, continued with a gentler one. "Look- You don't have to go into details, I know that would be asking too much of you, but at least, just tell me something that has happened recently. It doesn't have to be detailed… just, let me know what's keeping my father so busy. I deserve to know,"

"Very well," Pesdolone sighed, accepting the girl's 'bargain'. "Well… earlier today, we found a boy, probably around your age, if not older. He wasn't from this kingdom, since we don't have him in our records, and even if he was, it was a surprise no less that we'd found him in a boat several miles from shore, too far away of that to be traveling around the shoreline. When we found him, he'd been unconscious, when he'd awake, however, well, the least to say, he was, uh, violent,"

Curious by the other's choice of words, Natalie spoke up. "Violent? How so?"

"Some of the warriors of our Kingdom had already wisely disarmed him; he had quite a few weapons, a wide variety of swords, some of which we are still figuring how it had been crafted, or how it can even be wielded, as the handle of the sword is rigid, with shape edges here and there. However, they had not decided to properly bind him, though, as they did not saw him as a threat…" At this, Natalie could see Pesdolone grimace at the memories.

"When he woke up, though, they were proven wrong- terribly wrong. Even without weapons, the boy had fought them- A boy of your age, without weapon or amour, had fought against fully armed men! He was wild, and untamed, and he'd fought furiously. He severely wounded four of our best warriors, and when one had finally managed to blind him, it still took three men to restrain him! He'd screamed and thrashed against their hold even when his hands were bounded behind him, Natalie… he fought like an animal."

To say the least, she was startled by what the elder had just told her. "But… why? What was so special about him? True, he does sound dangerous, but what was that made them take such a huge interest in him?"

"It had something to do with what happened eight long years ago, Natalie," The Skyloid said as he smiled sadly. "Countless of children had been taken from their families at that time, and we believe him to be one of them. Even though he was not born in our Kingdom, further research had told us he was born in a place north from here- far away from the ocean. But that's not what we're interested in- we're more interested in what has happened to him during the last eight years before we found him. You see, no one knows why their child has been taken, nor do they know where, and we hope that with this boy, we might be able to shed some light onto these questions,"

"Wait, you said he'd screamed, right? What did he… sound like?"

"I do not know how to put this, Natalie, but it was the most… disturbing thing ever, it was as if someone had taken away his most prized possession right before his very eyes… it sounded as if he was about ready to kill anyone that had set their eyes on him-"

"And it sounded as if he was going to tear his victim's head off with his bare hands…" Natalie finished for the other, who promptly stared at her, bewildered.

"Yes, that was it, but how is it that you know?"

"I had a dream that woke me at night." Natalie confessed. "It was cold and dark, like the dungeons, when I heard a scream that had woke me from my sleep…" At this, Natalie eyes widened, as if something had struck her, then, she quickly added, "Can I see him?"

"Natalie, no." Pesdolone replied almost instantly. "I've already told you way more than I should, and the boy is unstable, so who knows what else he may do?"

"Please, just one more thing. Let me see him, and I won't ask for anything else," Natalie pleaded, too curious to meet this boy for her own good, the boy who's scream had woke her from her sleep.

"I feel like I spoil you, Natalie," Pesdolone smiled, "Alright, you may meet him, but I will accompany you, less something were to happen if he is to get violent again, and after that, you will ask no more of this, alright?"

"Yes, yes. I promise,"

- Red Ore Castle Dungeons, 14th March, 20XX

The Dungeons were indeed as dark and scary as her dream had made them to be. The only light that allowed her to see was that of the torches that were hung from the walls. The taller of the two walked beside her, with his hand on her shoulder, as if afraid of her going astray as he led the two down the dark corridors.

"Why would they keep him here?" Natalie asked after a while, though her voice was soft, as if she were afraid that any loud noises would awaken the hidden horrors that lurked within the depths of the dungeons.

"It would not do for them to keep him in the Kingdom's prison, said they. It was too far from the Castle were the majority of them were stationed. Besides, the security was another thing that they took into consideration. If the boy had no trouble wounding their best men, then murdering a handful of guards would be child's play to him." The elder of the two said, shaking his head slightly as the two continued to walk onwards, down the long dark corridors that were composed entirely of stone and gravel.

It took another while before the two had reached what seems to be a door made out of heavy wood. "If I am not mistaken, he is kept here." Pesdolone said as he placed one hand on the door, the wood splintered in many places. "Do be careful now, I don't want anything to happen to you; you already know what he is capable of doing, and I wish you will not do anything that is much too reckless, okay?"

"Yes, I know," Natalie said, nodding. Satisfied with her answer, the Skyloid pushed the door open, leading them into a small room, not as dim as the corridors of the dungeon, though, as it was lit on four sides of the room. As Natalie entered after the Skyloid, she was quick to notice that the room was spilt into two by the use of bars that had dropped down from the ceiling and buried themselves deep into the floor. The door to the cell was locked, and Natalie soon figured out why.

She had wanted to walk forward for a clearer look of the person that was lying on his side, back facing them on the cold surface of the floor, but a hand on her shoulder had stopped her, so instead, she just observed the other from where she stood, a good meter away from the bars. Long blond hair had been stained with red were tangled in a mess as it snaked down onto the floor. It was such a contrast to the person's dark clothing that had been torn and seemingly burnt in so many places. She had winced when she thought she'd saw an ugly bruise on the person's arm.

'_So this was the boy that Pesdolone had been talking about.'_

Natalie could hear- and almost feel- the blonde's rigid breathing, and, true to the other's words, she could see that the boy's hands were bound to his back; thick cords that were stained red had been tied around his wrists to prevent him from moving much, and Natalie could not help but feel pity towards the other teen. True, she was weary, and somewhat frightened by the other, as it seemed to be true that he was indeed as violent as Pesdolone had described him if he had caused himself such wounds, but she still felt sorry for the other, nonetheless, being bounded like a mere animal and locked in this cold cell until the others figured what to do with him.

She looked up at the elder of the two as she gently slid his hand off, smiling, reassuring him that she would not do anything that would bring harm to her, and she slowly made her way towards the bars that separated the two teens.

And, as if the boy could feel the vibrations caused by her footsteps, his body shifted, as if he was suddenly forced to be woken from his slumber by the girl's footing. The boy had coughed the first time when he had attempted to speak, chocking on what had been clogging his windpipe. The other teen had succeeded in his second attempt to speak, however, and his voice was rough and thick and was accompanied by a sharp edge as well, and, ironically, it sounded like the surface of that of the splintered door that the two had just passed through.

"What do you want, old man?"


End file.
